Microsoft has apparently given details of a new deal to PC makers that allows them to get discounted Windows XP licenses for use on UMPCs, according to Computer World UK. This already appeared to be the case due to pricing on the Eee PC, however it had not been confirmed. There seem to be two parts to this story. First, Microsoft is selling Windows for less on UMPCS. Second, some people suspect that the deal is supposed to prevent UMPCs from competing with normal PCs.

The first part is relatively simple. Microsoft is giving essentially the same product away at difference prices, depending what type of device it will go on. Although I am not in any way a lawyer, I suspect that this is legal, since Microsoft can just change one little feature and then it is a different product. Just because it is probably legal, does not, however, mean I think it is a fair practice. Another way of stating the second sentence of this paragraph is: Microsoft is making Windows less expensive in the markets where Linux is gaining market share. Because of this, I think this practice should be illegal and is certainly unfair.

The second part of the story is slightly more complicated, though not by much. The Computer World article brings up the point that Microsoft may be trying to limit UMPCs from invading the regular PC market by defining them with these specifications:

• Max screen size: 10.2
• No touch screen
• Hard drives are limited to 80GB
• Max 1GB RAM
• Max 1Ghz single-core processor, except for a few particular chips

Although it is true that these specifications would limit a UMPC from competing with a regular PC, three things should be kept in mind.

1. Microsoft has to set the limit somewhere. If Windows is going to have a different price for UMPCs, Microsoft has to define what a UMPC is so a 17-inch desktop replacement doesn’t count.
2. Every major UMPC that I can think of fits these specifications.
3. If these specifications are going to limit UMPCs, it is only going to hurt Microsoft. PC makers will not stop improving their hardware because they don’t get Microsoft’s discount. They might, however, switch to Linux, because Windows costs $50 more.

For these three reasons, I don’t see anything wrong with the specifications Microsoft has set. I do, however, think that the whole idea of selling the same product at differenet prices is unfair. If you disagree, however, I am open to hearing your arguement. Go ahead and post it in the comments.

Recently a diagram that depicts Microsoft’s “empire” competing or fighting its competitors, particularly open-source. The diagram (older versions), while probably mostly intended for fun, shows two important realities for Microsoft:

1. Microsoft is huge. They will never just disappear overnight or over a year. If they die, it will be very slow as they gradually lose various parts of their bussiness to competitors.
2. Microsoft is surrounded on all sides. They are facing serious competition almost everywhere they go. No longer are they the only player in anything.

Although these two points may seem simple, and to some extent they are, they are important. If Microsoft wants to continue to survive, it must remember that it does not have a free ride. Whether or not Microsoft will be able to beat back the competition remains to be seen, but so many (myself included) seem to think Microsoft will fall.

Recently, an article appeared on OSWeekly titled “Everex: The Dell of the Linux World.” The article makes a good point that Everex could be what Dell should have been for Linux, but based on their products so far, I am skeptical that they will succeed.

Right now, what they seem to be is what Dell is now. Full of potential, but so far from meeting that potential. Dell’s big mistake, in my opinion, is mostly not publicizing their Linux computers enough on their site. Even if you are looking for Dell’s Linux PCs, it can be difficult to find them. Everex has not made this mistake in particular, but they have made other mistakes.

Their first Linux computer, that I am aware of, was the gPC. The gPC was an inexpensive desktop PC ($200). Unfortunatly, it had two major problems. First, the software (Everex’s gOS) seemed to have lots of issues. Second, and not the fault of the gPC really, many reviews criticized the minimal hardware.

Next, Everex introduced the Cloudbook. From what I can tell, it was a fine Eee PC competitor, but it never managed to get the hype around it that the Eee PC had and still has.

Most recently, Everex has introduced a Mac Mini-ish computer for MySpace users. I think the idea of targeting a small niche is a good idea, but making your computer look like a beige CD drive from 10 years ago is not a good idea. Also, including a DVI port (mostly used on fancy monitors) instead of a VGA port (used on almost all monitors) is not smart, especially in a low-end PC.

So basically, Everex has a lot of potential, but they keep messing small things up and never really meeting their potential. What can Everex do to fix this, though? Below are some of the things I would do to change Everex if I was in charge.

1. Leave gOS behind and use Ubuntu. There are a number of reasons for making this change. For one thing, it would generate a lot of good press and get Ubuntu fans excited. Another advantage is that Everex’s products would no longer be plagued by small bugs that seemed to be a lot of the downfall of the gPC.
2. Instead of taking a lesson from Apple’s software, take a lesson from Apple’s hardware. Recently, Everex has been modeling gOS after Apple’s OSX in many ways. Instead of doing this, since they would be using Ubuntu, learn from Apple’s hardware. Apple is, after all, very good at making a box look pretty and Everex is a hardware company.
3. Consider dropping Windows completely. Without seeing Everex’s sales figures, it is impossible to know if this is even realistic at all, but a well timed dropping of all Windows computers could really bring the attention back to Everex. Imagine that a few months after introducing some new Linux PCs, Everex dropped their Windows PCs completely. It would excite people and bring the hype back to Everex.
4. Don’t make small, but important, mistakes that could easily be prevented. For example, don’t put a DVI port on a low-end PC. It is like saying here is a low-end computer that only works with an expensive monitor. It makes no sense.

Whatever Everex does, I hope they correct some of the problems they have had in the past and start producing great Linux PCs.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, just announced an online course intended for “corporate and home desktop users to get started with Ubuntu.” The course is available for $100 and covers the following topics, according to the announcement:

• Understand the concepts of open source and how they tie in with Ubuntu
• Customize the look and feel of the Ubuntu desktop
• Navigate through the file system and search for files
• Connect to and use the Internet
• Perform basic word-processing and spreadsheet functions using OpenOffice.org
• Install and play games
• Add, remove and update applications
• View, draw, manipulate and scan images
• Play, edit and organize music and video files
• Seek help on Ubuntu from free and commercial sources
• Create partitions and dual-boot options

To be honest, I can’t imagine any home user wanting to take a course in using Ubuntu, but I do think that offering this to businesses is a great idea. Here is why:

For a company planning on switching to Ubuntu, their IT people, who would probably not be familiar with Linux, would want to get some training in Linux, before deploying it to all the employees. With this course, they can not only learn how to use Ubuntu, but also how to teach other people at the company how to use it, all while only paying $100.

This is an advantage Ubuntu really needs to compete in the enterprise space. Right now, many people are probably tempted to go with Red Hat or Novell’s comercial Linux offerings, because of the support that comes with it.  By providing even this modest kind of support for commercial users, Canonical may be able to develop a bigger presence in that market to complement its leading position among non-commercial users.

Recently Adobe announced that it is joining the Linux Foundation, according to Fox Business. The Linux Foundation is “a nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux,” according to their website. When things like this happen, it is hard to tell if it is just a press release or if Adobe really intends to pay more attention to Linux, but we can hope they really do care about Linux.

Assuming this announcement is more than a press release, it could mean a number of things. For one thing, it could likely lead to a better Flash Player for Linux, which would be very nice. Another, perhaps more significant possibility, is that Adobe will bring their applications like Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, etc. to Linux. If that happened, it would be a huge deal, because Adobe’s applications are almost all often considered #1 in their category (not that I am a fan, grr… monopoly grr…)

While it may seem crazy to some people (myself included) that Adobe would put all the effort into porting their applications to Linux, there is another way they could do it. In order to make Picasa for Linux, Google took the Windows version and packaged it with a custom version of WINE. With all the attention being put into Adobe applications on WINE already, something similar might work.

Adobe joining the Linux Foundation could just be a press release, but I am hopeful it means more than that for Linux.

Ever since Dell announced it would start selling Ubuntu computers, Linux people have been urging everyone to support Dell and buy a Dell Ubuntu PC whenever they need a new computer. Most recently, a Linux Journal article concluded “not only should readers of Linux Journal try to buy systems from Dell and other companies that are offering ready-configured GNU/Linux systems, but we should encourage others to do the same.” To be fair, the conclusion is “buy systems from Dell and other companies,” not just Dell, but still I cannot fully agree.

I am not trying to say that what Dell is doing is bad in any way, but it is just not up to the standards of smaller vendors such as System 76 and ZaReason. Dell hides their Linux systems so well that it can be hard to find them even if you are looking for them. The chances of someone not already familiar with Linux finding the page are very low. Plus, even if you do find the page, you’re first presented with a page that essentially directs new users back to Windows.

I suppose I can understand Dell’s concern. People expecting Windows and getting something else could be a tech support nightmare. Because I understand why Dell does what they do, I am not suggesting you not buy from Dell, but it seems like the spotlight should be put on smaller companies truly promoting Linux, not the huge giant that is still a little scarred of Linux.

Just like with the Eee PC, ever since the gPC started the low-cost Linux desktop market (yeah, yeah I am sure there is some cheap Linux PC that came before it), many, many companies have rushed to essentially copy the design and call it their own. This is understandable in the case of the Eee PC, since it has done so well, but it makes a lot less sense in the case of the gPC, since the gPC and all the copies so far have basically failed. I can even understand some early rip-offs thinking they could do better, but after every product in the market flops, you would think the flow of these cheap Linux PCs would stop, but it has not. Shuttle just set a launch date of mid-April for their “KPC.” (Even the name is a rip-off.)

While I am saying that companies should stop copying a tried and failed idea, I am not saying that no one should try to enter this cheap Linux PC market. Just don’t do the same thing as everyone else. To figure out how to make a better cheap Linux PC, look at the Eee PC. One major factor, at least in my opinion, in the Eee PC’s success is that it has appeal to both geeks and regular people. On the other hand, the gPC has almost no appeal to a geek (why would they want another underpowered computer even if it were free?)

There are plenty of ways to increase the geek appeal of a cheap Linux PC, you just have to think of it as a little more than your average Dell PC. As one commenter named Robert Pogson pointed out in a comment on “Will Asus’s UMPC Success Carry into Linux Desktops?,” Asus could make their new cheap Linux desktop PC a “base station for the eee (backup, software repository, home files, printing…).” Or how about an inexpensive media center/home server computer? All of this could be done.

The cheap Linux desktop PC market is not hopeless, it just needs some products that are not copies of failed ideas.

Since Asus said they planned to sell Eee PCs with Windows pre-installed, a lot of people, including Asus themselves, have tried to predict which version of the Eee PC, the one with Linux or the one with Windows, will do the best. It is an interesting question, particularly since Linux has not traditionally done well with the non-geeky, mostly uninformed group of people who will really be deciding how well each version does, since they are the majority of people. While you might expect that the past will simply repeat itself and Windows will triumph again, Linux has never been given a chance before in the way it is being given a chance now, so the situation is different.

Put yourself in the shoes of an uninformed person looking at two models of Eee PCs. They both look the same (after all, what does GB or RAM mean?), but one says Windows and the other says Linux. Since you don’t really understand what Linux is and you may only have a vague idea what Windows is, what do you do? Ask the sales person. (Or scroll down and read the product details in the case of an online store.)

Typically, this would be where Linux gets unfairly put down by the Microsoft marketing giant. In most circumstances, the sales person would basically tell you that Windows is better (although not always) and that would be the end of it. To prevent this from happening, however, I propose Asus create a small set of bullet point benefits for each that the sales people can explain to potential buyers or that can be posted on retail websites. For example:

Windows:

• Most people are familiar with Windows, so unless you are already a Mac or Linux user, you will know how to operate the Eee PC as soon as you take it out of the box.
• All of your existing programs will work on your new Eee PC.

Linux:

• The interface is customized specifically for the Eee PC.
• Linux will run faster than Windows in most cases.
• No anti-virus software is needed as there are no viruses for Linux.
• Although things may not work exactly as you expect them to, most common tasks can be done as easily on Linux as on Windows.

With a set of fairly unbiased and easy to understand points like this, everyone could make an informed decision on which Eee PC to buy. Personally (and I expect many people will agree), if people make an informed decision to choose Windows, I have no problem with that.

After around 5 months of stocking the gPC in stores, Wal-Mart has decided to stop stocking Linux-based computers in their stores, although they will continue to sell them on their website, according to the AP. Although I can see how a decision like this would be made, if you ask me, they jumped out too early and did not really give Linux a fair chance.

The Linux-based computer Wal-Mart experimented with was the gPC. Although the gPC was one of the first Linux computers to receive a lot of attention, it was not, by far, the best received. Many negative reviews were written and, although the price was low, the hardware was somewhat lacking in many people’s opinion. While based on this I can see choosing to stop selling the gPC in stores, I think it is too soon for Wal-Mart to give up on Linux. Look at how well the Eee PC is already doing, and Asus’s CEO just said they could sell 300,000 to 400,000 per month if battery shortages were resolved.

While Wal-Marts decision is somewhat justified in that not all Linux-based PCs have done well at all, giving up on Linux before even trying to sell what is almost certainly the most popular Linux computer, the Eee PC, seems like giving up on something good without trying it.

Earlier this week Microsoft promised to be friendlier towards open-source software in what was basically an attempt to suck up to the EU, however, in a recent development, it turns out that the EU was not done bashing Microsoft over the head for all the stuff they did in the past. To resolve this situation, the EU has issued a big fat bill for $1.35 billion (many times more than previous fines) to cover all the stuff they never got a chance to investigate. With this settled, the EU will be able to focus on investigating Microsoft for whatever they think of next.

OK, the EU is not really just giving Microsoft a bill for all the stuff they never got to investigate, but, according to Reuters, they did just fine Microsoft a record amount just days after Microsoft issued a press release presumably intended to suck up to the EU. The Reuters article says the real reason for the fine is ”using high prices to discourage software competition.” Although I cannot claim to understand it entirely, I gather this specific case has to do with not making interoperability information avaliable enough or cheap enough and thus discoraging competition. Of course it could just be the EU wants their money before Microsoft goes broke buying Yahoo.